Wooden barrel



Mmm 1111, 1941.v R DAMICO 2,234,667

WOODEN BARREL Filed June 27, 1938 ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 1.1, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to containers for liquids and more particularly refers to improvements in the construction of wooden barrels.

It is well known that wooden barrels usually consist of a circumferential series of staves, held together by hoops, and two heads, the marginal portion of each of which registers with and is engaged by a circumferential groove formed in the inner surface of the barrel body.

By virtue of this construction the two heads are securely held in position and are restrained against longitudinal vdisplacement with respect to the body of the barrel.

The heads are generally composed of a number of slats arranged edge to edge against one another, said slats together forming a `circular assembly of the required diameter. These slats are cut so that the grain of the wood is longitudinally directed and the perfect tightness of the head thereby formed generally results not only from good workmanship but also from the fact that if the barrel has been filled with liquid for some time the wood will swell and the slats as well as the staves composing the body of the barrel will tightly press against one another and will be held under pressure by the hoops.

Some barrels are subjected to frequent llings and emptyings and also to frequent handling while in their empty state. It frequently happens that the barrels are left empty for considerable periods of time so that the wood has a chance to dry up in the meantime. Such is the case, for instance, in connection with beer barrels which are frequently and roughly handled and which are, therefore, subject to considerable wear and tear.

Due to rough usage, after a certain time, beer barrels generally must be sent to the repair shop to be reconditioned. Some of the hoops may have worked loose and the barrel may have become somewhat misshaped due to shrinkage of the wood and other causes.

I have noticed that a particularly serious difficulty arises in connection with the barrel heads, because due to the shrinkage of the slats in a transversal direction the heads become somewhat oval in shape, losing their original perfectly circular outline. When barrels in this condition are sent to the repair shop and the staves are tightened against the heads by forcing the hoops inwardly or by replacing the original hoops with hoops of a smaller diameter, the ends of the barrel will no longer be perfectly round and the capacity of the barrel itself will be somewhat decreased.

This is objectionable not only because a somewhat attened head is more subject to deformation than a perfectly round head, but also be- 5 cause the capacity of the barrels should never be impaired. In the beer industry the barrel is the unit of capacity which is used in making deliveries and rendering invoices and, therefore, a shortage in the. contents of the barrels l may at times be a serious matter.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a barrel of a novel and improved construction, in which the heads are formed so as to insure their retaining a perfectly circular outline l in a permanent manner.

Another object is to provide, in a barrel, heads of a novel and improved construction designed so as to permanently retain their circular outline and means for retaining the elements composing said heads in position so as to prevent bulging thereof under the action of the liquid contained in the barrel.

A further object is to provide in a wooden barrel a novel and improved type of end hoop protecting the barrel against damage more effectively than hoops of the type heretofore in use,

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will more fully appear as the description proceeds and will be set forth and claimed in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a top View, partly sectioned, of a beer barrel embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a front View of one of the heads of said barrel, minus the central portion or hub;

Fig. 3 is a side View in an enlarged scale, partly section, of the hub forming part of the heads of the barrel shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a similar View illustrating a hub of a different construction;

Fig. 5 is an end view of one of the members forming part of the hub shown in Fig. 4;

Figs. 6 and 7 are sectional side views, illus-'45 rating two other alternative constructions of hub;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary longitudinal section in an enlarged scale through one end of the barrel shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary longitudinal section through the central portion of said barrel; and

Fig. 10 is a sectional side View illustrating still another alternative construction of hub.

The barrel l0, shown in Fig. l, is composed of 55 tween originally provided.

a circumferential series of staves H, having the usual curved longitudinal outline, the inner surface of said staves being formed with a transversal groove l2 in proximity of each of its ends, the grooves of each stave being in alignment with the grooves of the other staves So that when the staves are arranged edge to edge so as to form. the body of the barrel the transversal grooves will together form a circumferential groove near each end of the barrel, adapted to receive and interlock with the barrel heads I3, I4.

The staves may be held together by the usual hoops l5, i6, which are usually four in number,

that is, one at each end and two at points inter-l mediate' the center and each end of the barrel, as shown.

For the end hoops, however, I prefer to use the type of end ring illustrated at 59, 59, and at the center I prefer to use the special type of hoop shown at til, that I will describe later.

As stated, the main characteristic of my barrel is the special construction of the barrel heads, which is shown in detail in Fig. 2. In the same it will be seen that the barrel head is in the form of a disk having a central opening 20, said disk being composed of a number of wooden segments 2l, 22, 23, etc., registering edge to edge with one another so as to form a complete circumference, said segments being cut with the grain of the wood running in a substantially radial direction.

The marginal portion 24 of the disk thus formed is preferably thinned down somewhat so as to match the width of the circumferential grooves l2, it being understood, of course, that said disk is of such a diameter and shape as to register with said circumferential grooves, forming a closure wall for each end of the barrel. Due to the fact that the grain of the wood in all the segments runs in a substantially radial direction, there is no possibility of the wood shrinking transversely of the barrel head so that the diameter of the disk will at all times remain substantially unchanged. If any shrinkage should perchance take place, it would be transversely of each segment, that is, in a circumferential direction with respect to the barrel head, so that such a shrinkage would only be likely to cause more clearance to occur between adjoining segments instead of the tight abutment therebe- Hcwever, such a shrinkage is not likely to take placeand would at any rate be taken up by the subsequent swelling of the wood whenvliquid is again poured into the barrel.

|There is no particular limitation in the number of segments used for completing the disk, nor is it necessary that said segments be of uniform angular width; the only requirement in this respect is that at least one of thesegments shown at 23 be wide enough to permit boring therethrough a hole 25, adapted to receive the spigot for drawing the beer.

In order to hold the segments in position and at the same time restraining them against the possibility of bulging due to the pressure ofthe liquid within the barrel, I complete the construction of the barrel head by providing the disk with a hub member 26, having a central portion 2l registering with and running across the opening 28 formed by the segment assembly and two relatively wide anges 23, 29, abutting against the outer and inner sur-faces respectively of the disk. Said flanges are relativelythin with aconvex outline so as to avoid any edges projecting from the barrel head.

In the type of hub member shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the two flanges 28, 29, are spaced from each other a distance corresponding to the thickness of the segments composing the disk, so that the inner end of the segments can be forced between the flanges with a tight t.

'Ihe inner end of the hub member is preferably tapped, as shown at 35i, so as to receive the end of a tie rod 3l, which may be employed when desired in order to further strengthen the construction of the barrel and hold the barrel heads in a definite position, further preventing the possibility of bulging and maintaining constant the capacity of the barrel.

If desired, the hub members can be made in the form of clamping devices, retaining the segments by screw pressure. Such a type of hub member can be made in various ways and is adjustable for use in connection with head segments of different thicknesses. The hub member shown in Figs. 4 and 5Y is composed of a female member having a perforated shank 32 of a diameter corresponding to that of opening 20 in the barrel-head, and a relatively wide ange 33, anda male member having a stem 34 insertable through the opening in shank 32, and a flange 35 integral with said-stern. The stem 34 ofthe male member is threaded at its outer end, as shown at 33, and projects beyond the flange 33 of the female member so as to be engagea-ble by a nut 37, adapted to force the two flanges towards each other.

By virtue of this construction it thus becomes possible to .clamp between the two flanges segments of different thicknesses so long as the segments composing the barrel head are all of the same thickness.

The inner surface of the fianges of the hub member are preferable provided with a circumferentialseries ofburrs or projections 38 which will penetrate the surface of the segments engaged by saidjflanges and will thus aid in securely holding said segments in position. Said burrs or projections are preferably in the form of relatively narrow pointed ridges, which are radially directed in order to more easily become embedded between the radially directed fibers of the wood in the segments.

The hub member shown in Fig. 6 differs somewhat from that shown in Figs. 4 and 5 in that the stem portion 39 extending from the flange 40 of the male member does not project beyond the flange-4l of the female member but is spaced a certain distance from the outer surface of said flange and is internally threaded to receive the threaded stem 42 of a plug 43, the head of which abuts against the outer'surface of ange 4|.

This construction-makes it possible to also provide the head of plug 43 with a central threaded opening 44,. adapted to receive the threaded end of a tie-rod such as shown at 3l in Fig. 1, if desired.

In Fig. '7 the hub comprises afemaie member composed ofa shank.` 45'and a fiange 43 and a male member composed of a threaded stem il and ay flange 48. The shank 45 of the female memberis. tapped to received the threaded stem 41 and the outer surface of the flange 46 is also in this case provided with a central threaded opening 49,' permitting the use of a tie-rod betweenthe two barrel heads, if desired.

In certain cases ,it may ber desirable to provide the hub with a throughi opening making it possible to reach the inside of the barrel or to equip the barrel with a cooling coil housed within the barrel but forming part of a cooling device or system external to the barrel, one end of the coil passing through the hub of one of the heads of the barrel and the other end passing through the hub of the other head.

A construction of this type is shown in Fig. 10, where the hub is shown as comprising a female member composed of a shank and a flange 5| and a male member composed of a flange 52, having a threaded stem 53 engaging a corresponding threaded recess 54 in shank 50 of the female member.

The stem 53 of the male member is bored to receive the perforated extension 55 of a plug 56 threaded into the outer surface of the flange 52 of the male member. Perforation 51 running centrally of plug 5t and its extension 55 thus provides a passage through which communication may be established between the inside and the Outside of the barrel without interfering with the usual spigot provided through opening 25 and without interfering with the bunghole.

In order to further preserve the round construction of the ends of the barrel, in place of the usual hoops, I prefer to use hoops of the type shown at lill, 59 in Fig. l and in Fig. 8. Referring more particularly to Figl 8, it will be seen that the outer edge of the hoop is turned inwardly, as shown at fifi, so as to embrace the edge of the body structure of the barrel formed by the circumferential series of staves Il.

This construction causes the hoop not only to afford an armored protection to the ends of the barrel so as to effectively protect the more exposed parts of the barrel against damage, but also causes it to acquire a rigid structure which will resist any tendency to ovaliaation due to stresses imposed upon the barrel through rough usage and handling.

I also prefer to equip the barrel with a central hoop such as shown at E I, in Fig. 1, the construction of said hoop being shown in greater detail in Fig. 9. Said hoop has its edges somewhat bent inwardly so that they will bear with a certain pressure against the staves. In case of elongation coming with use the hoop can be tightened merely by further bending inwardly its edge portions 62, 63, so as to always insure tightness of the body portion of the barrel.

It is obvious that my inventive idea may be carried into practice in ways differing to some extent from those shown and described; the drawing should, therefore, be understood as being intended for illustrative purposes only and not in a limiting sense.

I, accordingly, reserve the right to carry my invention into practice in all those ways and manners which may enter, fairly, into the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a barrel, a barrel head consisting of a disk composed of a plurality of wooden segments abutting edge to edge against one another, the grain of the wood in said segments running in a substantially radial direction, said disk having a central opening, a pair of coaxial flanges abutting the opposite faces of said disk, one of said flanges having integral therewith an axial hollow interiorly threaded hub portion extending through the opening of said disk, said other flange being movable axially of said hub, a separate means extending through said last named flange and rotatable relative thereto, said means having a shoulder at one end contacting said last named flange and threads on the other end cooperating with the threads in said hub to draw the flanges toward each other during the assembly of the head, said anges having on their inner faces a circumferential series of spaced radially extending ridges, the movement of the flanges toward each other causing the ridges tc penetrate the surfaces of the wooden segments thereby preventing separation of said segments.

2. In a barrel, a barrel head consisting of a disk composed of a plurality of wooden segments edge to edge against one another, the grain of the wood in said segments running in a substantially radial direction, said disk having a central opening, a pair of flanges abutting the opposite faces of said disk, one of said flanges having integral therewith an axial hollow hub portion extending through the opening in said disfk, said other flange having an axial stem insertable slidably through said hub portion, a separate means cooperating with said stem portion and abutting the outer face of the first named flange for moving the flanges toward each other during the assembly of the head, said flanges having on their inner faces a circumferential series of spaced radially extending ridges, the movement of the flanges toward each other causing the ridges to penetrate the surfaces of the wooden segments thereby preventing separation of said segments.

3. A barrel head comprising a disk composed of a plurality of wooden segments abutting edge to edge against one another, the grain of the wood in said segments running in a substantially radial direction, said disk having a central opening, a hub member comprising a flange abutting against a surface of the disk, said flange having a depending perforated shank extending through the disk opening, a second flange member abutting the second surface of the disk, said last named flange member having a stem insertable through the opening in the shank member, said stem being internally threaded, a headed bolt receivable in said threaded portion, the head of the bolt abutting against the outer surface of the first fiange member for drawing the two flange members together, a circumferential series of radially extending ridges on the inner surface of each of the ange members, the movement of the anges toward each other causing the ridges to penetrate the surfaces of the wooden segments thereby preventing separation of said segments.

` PETER,` DAMICO'. 

